To the Edges of the Earth: 1909, the Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age of Exploration - Softcover

Larson, Edward J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006256448X ISBN 13: 9780062564481

Publisher: Mariner Books, 2019

Synopsis

*** National Outdoor Book Award WINNER! ***

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, a "suspenseful" (WSJ) and "adrenaline-fueled" (Outside) entwined narrative of the most adventurous year of all time: in 1909 three daring expeditions–led by Ernest Shackleton, Robert Peary, and the dashing Duke of the Abruzzi–simultaneously raced to the top, bottom, and heights of the world.

As 1909 dawned, the greatest jewels of exploration—set at the world’s frozen extremes—lay unclaimed: the North and South Poles and the so-called “Third Pole,” the pole of altitude, located in unexplored heights of the Himalaya. Before the calendar turned, three expeditions had faced death, mutiny, and the harshest conditions on the planet to plant flags at the furthest edges of the Earth.

In the course of one extraordinary year, Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson were hailed worldwide at the discovers of the North Pole; Britain’s Ernest Shackleton had set a new geographic “Furthest South” record, while his expedition mate, Australian Douglas Mawson, had reached the Magnetic South Pole; and at the roof of the world, Italy’s Duke of the Abruzzi had attained an altitude record that would stand for a generation, the result of the first major mountaineering expedition to the Himalaya's eastern Karakoram, where the daring aristocrat attempted K2 and established the standard route up the most notorious mountain on the planet. 

Based on extensive archival and on-the-ground research, Edward J. Larson weaves these narratives into one thrilling adventure story. Larson, author of the acclaimed polar history Empire of Ice, draws on his own voyages to the Himalaya, the arctic, and the ice sheets of the Antarctic, where he himself reached the South Pole and lived in Shackleton’s Cape Royds hut as a fellow in the National Science Foundations’ Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. 

These three legendary expeditions, overlapping in time, danger, and stakes, were glorified upon their return, their leaders celebrated as the preeminent heroes of their day. Stripping away the myth, Larson, a master historian, illuminates one of the great, overlooked tales of exploration, revealing the extraordinary human achievement at the heart of these journeys.

 

About this title

From the Back Cover

From Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Edward J. Larson comes an entwined narrative of the most adventurous year of all time, when three expeditions simultaneously raced to the top, bottom, and heights of the world

As 1909 dawned, the greatest jewels of exploration lay unclaimed: the North and South Poles and the so-called Third Pole, “the Pole of Altitude,” located in the unexplored heights of the Himalayas. Before the calendar turned, three expeditions had faced death, mutiny, and the harshest conditions on the planet to raise flags at the farthest edges of the earth.

In the course of one extraordinary year, Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson were hailed worldwide as the discoverers of the North Pole; Britain’s Ernest Shackleton had set a new geographic farthest-south record, while his expedition mate Australian Douglas Mawson had reached the south magnetic pole; and at the roof of the world, Italy’s Duke of the Abruzzi had attained an altitude record that would stand for a generation, the result of the first major mountaineering expedition to the Himalayas’ eastern Karakoram, where the daring aristocrat attempted K2 and established the standard route up the most notorious mountain on the planet.

Drawing on extensive archival and on-the-ground research to the Arctic, Antarctic, and Himalaya, Edward J. Larson illuminates one of the great overlooked tales of exploration, revealing the astonishing human achievement at the heart of these journeys.

About the Author

EDWARD J. LARSON received the Pulitzer Prize for History for Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate over Science and Religion. He is the co-author of Modern Library’s The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison and author of The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States, 1783-1789, and A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800. He was an inaugural fellow at the National Library for the Study of George Washington. Larson is University Professor of History and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University. He travels widely as a media commentator, visiting instructor, and guest speaker.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 006256448X
• ISBN 13: 9780062564481
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352